Remote manipulation apparatus



Nov. 3, 1964 JEAN-CLAUDE EUDE ETAL 3,155,240

REMOTE MANIPULATION APPARATUS Filed Feb. 6, 1961 vZ Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 3, 1964 JEAN-CLAUDE EUDE EAL 3,155,240

REMOTE MANIPULATION APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fi Q .3.

Filed Feb. 5, 1961 Fi g. 2.

@1 r J\ n--n Nov. 3, 1964 JEAN-CLAUDE EUDE ETAL 3,155,240

REMOTE MANIPULATION APPARATUS Filed Feb. 6, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 i ifa -4 i /83 v i g e e United States Patent O 3,155,246 REMOTE MANIPULATION APPARATUS .lean-Claude Ende, Argenteuil, Claude Piron, Nantes, .lean Savouyaud, Orsay, and .lean Vertut, Paris, France, assiguors to Commissariat IEnergie Atomique, Paris,

France Filed Feb. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 87,269 Claims priority, application France, Feb. 16, 1969, 818,564; May 16, 1960, 827,297; Aug. 19, 1.960, 836,225 e 1 Claim. (Cl. 214-1) The present invention relates to remote control apparatus allowing an operator to operate remoteiy upon dangerous materials, particularly radioactive materials, located inside a protective enclosure.

It more particularly (because it is in Ithis case that its application seems to offer the most importance) but not exclusively concerns, among these apparatuses, those having a manipulation head in which the manipulation head comprises an arm, forearm and a pincer, and capable of four movements, viz., unlimited rotation of the assembly, elbow movement of the forearm with regard to the arm, unlimited rotation of the pincer, land closure of the latter.

Above all it has as its object to make these apparatuses so that they answer, better than formerly, the different requirements of practice, in particular that, with suliicient power allied to reduced size, they ensure complex operations in the most inaccessible parts of the protective enclosure `and allow the easy repair and/or the changing of the motor members with which they are provided.

At the same time las providing in the apparatuses of the kind under consideration, means for remote controlling the different motor members, the invention principally consists in -transmitting the four movements of which the manipulation head is capable by means of kinematic linkages comprising gears and transmission shafts from four external motor members, each effecting one movement and mounted on the part of the said manipulation head furthest away from the pincer. rfhe motor members may be of any desired kind e.g. electric, rotary hydraulic, or rotary pneumatic motor.

The invention is concerned more particularly with certain methods of application (those for which it is used to operate upon radioactive materials inside protective enclosures and also with certain embodiments of the said devices. Still more particularly and by way of new industrial products, the invention concerns means of the kind in question which can be applied to these same devices, and also assemblies or installations fitted with similar devices.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which show certain embodiments thereof by way of example only and in which:

FIGURE l shows an outside View of the manipulation head, according to the invention,

FIGURES 2, 3, 4, and vrelate to a preferred embodiment of a manipulation head according to the invention.

In said FIGURES 2 to 5 FIGURE 2 shows a diagrammatic view of the transmission of the opening movement of the pincer;

FIGURE 3 shows in diagrammatic View the transmission ofthe rotary movement of the pincer;

FIGURE 4 shows a diagrammatic View of the transmission of the elbow movement; and

FlGURE 5 shows a diagrammatic view of the transmission of the rotary movement of the entire manipulation head.

Referring to the drawings, the manipulation head, as nay be seen in FIGURE l, comprises au arm, itself comprising lan upperpart 1, integral with a support 2 and ice carrying motors generally indicated at 3 and with a lower part 4, a forearm 5, articulated on the lower part 4 of the arm at an elbow joint shaft 6, and a pincer 7 connected to the forearm 5 by a pincer carrier 8.

The said manipulation head is capable of the following four elementary movements:

l) Unlimited rotary movement about the axis 9 of the arm, of the lower part 4 of the latter in relation to the upper part 1.

(2) Elbow movement of the forearm 5 in relation to the lower part 4 of the arm about the shaft 6 perpendicular to the axis 9 of the arm.

(3) Unlimited rotary movement of the pincer Vcarrier 8 in relation to the forearm 5 about the axis 16B of the latter, the said axis 10 being itself perpendicular to the shaft 6 of the elbow.

(4) Gripping movement of the pincer symbolized by the arrows 11.

In the manipulation head according to the invention, as shown in FIGURE 2, the closure of the jaws such as S2 of the pincer is carried out by the toothed rack 53, in engagement with the gearing on the heels of the jaws, by means of two identical toothed wheels such as 54, which have the object of reversing the direction of opening of the pincer and of allowing by this fact the dismantling of [the pincer and the pincer carrier.

The toothed rack 53 is integral with a ring 55 of a planetary differential reducer 56 disposed within the housing of the forearm 5. A train of gears 57, a flexible transmission shaft 58, which allows the elbow to move, a train of gears 59, a hollow shaft 60 and a train of gears 61 connect the aforementioned assembly to ia motor 62 placed at the top of the upper part 1 of the arm.

As may be seen in FIGURE 3, the rotation of the pmcer carrier 3 about the axis 10 of the forearm is produced by a motor 63, the movement of which is transmitted from the top of the upper part 1 of the arm by by a gear 64, a hollow shaft 65, a train of gears 66, a llexible transmission shaft 67, which Vallows the elbow to move a train of gears 68,'a planetary diierential reducer 69, located inside the housing of the forearm 5. The ring of the reducer 69 is integral with the toothed wheel 71 which transmits its movement to the pincer carrier 8 by the means of planet wheels such as 72, mounted loose on an axis 73 integral with the forearm 5. This latter turns about the axis 74 integral with the forearm 5.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 4, the elbow movement about the axis of shaft 6 is produced by a motor 75 and transmitted from the top of the upper part 1 of the arm by a planetary differential reducer 76, located in the housing of the upper part 1 of the arm, a bevel gear 77 and a toothed wheel 73 which simultaneously drives two identical toothed wheels such as 79 respectively integral with two screws such as 80 which in their turn respectively drive two identical sectors, such as 8l, keyed on tothe shaft 6 integral with the forearm 5 (FIGURE 5). The clearance of the forearm 5 in relation to the arm 4 is Referring to FIGURE 5, the rotation of the lower l part 4 of the arm in relation to the upper part 1 is pro- The embodiment which has just been described relates, to the manipulation head, but the latter can be mounted on different sorts of supports in order to form any number of operating devices'.

It will be understood from a perusal of the foregoing, that the invention is in no Way limited to the methods of application shown nor to that of the embodiment which has been more especially described; and that various modications may be made to the specic details referred to Without in any way departing from its scope.

We claim:

Remote manipulation apparatus having a manipulation head, the head comprising an arm, a forearm and a pincer, and constructed and arranged for unlimited rotation of the arm, for elbow movement of the forearm with respect to the arm, for unlimited movement of the pincer and for closure of the pincer, kinematic linkages transmitting these movements to the head, the linkages comprising gearing and ilexible driving shafts, four external motor members driving said linkages, one motor for each movement and the motors being mounted upon the References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,822,094 2/58 Greer. 2,861,701 1l/58 Bergsland et al. 3,033,059 5/62 lMelton et al. 3,043,448 7/ 62 Melton.

OTHER REFERENCES Another Mechanical Arm, by General Mills, Model 100, Bulletin 6Bll1, copyright 1959.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primaryy Examiner. MORRIS TEMIN, ERNEST A. FALLER, JR., Examiners. 

